Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: A Second-Gen Android Tablet
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Page 1:Samsung's Second-Generation Galaxy Tab
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Page 2:Meet Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1
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Page 3:TouchWiz UX: Skinning Honeycomb
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Page 4:Keyboard Enhancements
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Page 5:Synchronizing And USB Debugging
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Page 6:GPU Performance: Tegra 2
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Page 7:Display Quality: Color Gamut
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Page 8:Display Quality: Black And White Uniformity
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Page 9:Camera Quality
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Page 10:Benchmark Results: Real-World
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Page 11:Battery Life And Recharge Time
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Page 12:Wireless Performance
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Page 13:Is Samsung's Second-Gen Galaxy A Winner?
The iPad 2 enjoys the benefit of being one generation ahead of everyone else. But what happens when the competition catches up? Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the first second-gen Android-based tablet. Can it hold its own against the iPad 2 in our testing?
Do you want to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 of your own? How about an Eee Pad Transformer, an Acer Iconia Tab A500, or a Lenovo IdeaPad K1? We're giving away all of those Nvidia Tegra 2-powered tablets and more (special thanks to the TegraZone team for providing the prizes)!
Read through our Eee Pad Transformer review and, on the last page, follow the link to fill out our entry form on SurveyGizmo. Good luck, Tom's Hardware readers!
Successful products are one part innovation and one part timing. Apple got both halves of the recipe just right with its iPad. Introduced in April 2010, the original iPad was a refreshing take on mobile computing that stripped away the familiar keyboard and incorporated a power-friendly hardware architecture. While the iPad wasn’t particularly slick or slim (compared to today's standards, at least), it benefited from being the first tablet. That's a massive advantage, especially when you take into consideration Apple's understanding that it needed huge developer support right out of the gate. And when tablet-curious buyers ask if a new contender is an iPad 2-killer, then it's clear which company is setting the standard.
Although Google's Android-based tablets are increasingly garnering accolades, it's hard to go head-to-head against Apple while playing a game of catch-up. The first Honeycomb-based tablet (Motorola's Xoom) debuted in early February 2011. That was almost a year after the iPad. Fortunately, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 narrows the timetable significantly. It's the first second-generation Android-based tablet, and it follows Apple's second-gen offering by just a few months.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Tablets released prior to the Xoom didn't really compete in a meaningful way against Apple's solution. All of them, including Samsung's Galaxy Tab, used Gingerbread (Android 2.3), which Google intended for use on smartphones. Honeycomb (Android 3.0) is a completely different beast because it was created with tablets in mind.
But while Google offers a true tablet experience with its Android 3.0 operating system, it doesn't make its own tablets. Instead, it relies on hardware vendors that use its software on their own interpretations of what a tablet should be. And up until now, that hardware has come across as less refined than what Apple offers. That’s not completely fair, though. Tablets like the Xoom, Iconia A500, and Eee Pad Transformer represent first-generation Android-based tablets, which is why they're more accurately compared to the original iPad.
Plenty of time has passed, though, and the hardware is finally catching up to the software. Samsung has the first second-generation Honeycomb-based tablet in its Galaxy Tab 10.1, and it's one of the best mobile devices we've seen thus far (and that's even compared to the iPad 2). What makes this implementation different? How did Samsung turn thing around? We're putting this tablet through our usual gauntlet of poking and prodding, bringing you the answers.
- Samsung's Second-Generation Galaxy Tab
- Meet Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1
- TouchWiz UX: Skinning Honeycomb
- Keyboard Enhancements
- Synchronizing And USB Debugging
- GPU Performance: Tegra 2
- Display Quality: Color Gamut
- Display Quality: Black And White Uniformity
- Camera Quality
- Benchmark Results: Real-World
- Battery Life And Recharge Time
- Wireless Performance
- Is Samsung's Second-Gen Galaxy A Winner?
Or am I missing something here?
But the author is right: if there is one reason Apple should sue Samsung, it's for copying the price structure of the iPad!
The 10.1 is still too slow for certain browsing. Flash is good as long as you don't want to rewind or fast forward through it. It sometimes slows down when I try typing also.
Since Apple produces both hardware and software, they can optimize their OS for the exact hardware they put out.
After trying the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, I would say it's just a little too immature still. A good year or two and tablets will be perfect for browsing, gaming, and some other tasks while also being lightweight and easy to use even compared to laptops.
-Full USB port for mouse, keyboard, portable hard disks/thumb drives, cameras
-Overclocked and stable dual core CPU @ 1.504 Ghz (big change in performance)
-Customizable and open operating system (and it's going to get better with ICS)
-Honeycomb 3.2
-Netflix and Hulu working
-Mount drives from Linux, Windows, and OSX
-Websites with Flash that look the same as on a PC browser (now theres a concept)
-Wide screen 16:9
-5MP rear camera + front facing camera.
-HDMI out
-Charges back up in 1hr
i think it's supposed to be SGX543MP2?
The iPad wasn't the first tablet. They had been around for years before the iPad. Depending on what you're using for the definition of a tablet you could even say they were made as far back as in the 80's. We'll just say 2001 for functionality sake. iPad just crossed a tablet with the useful qaulities and good looks of an iPhone and marketed it right. I thought these articles were supposed to be written by techies? Not even gonna read the rest now.
First, it states that Android does no multitasking, that's simply wrong. What Android doesn't allow is to have multiple apps showing at the same time on the screen, you can have an app doing some long job while you work on another, if that's not multitasking I don't know what is.
Second, one paragraph later it tells the Galaxy task killer doesn't remove the thumbnail from the "multitasking switcher" (didn't the reviewer just said Android does no multitasking?). That switch is really an "app history" switcher rather than a multitask switcher, because even if the app is no longer in memory Android will reopen it for you, so no reason for Touchwiz task killer to remove the thumbnail from it.
It is a good review, but I wish the reviewer had done his research on some topics like this one before alienating readers with wrong information.
This is by no way a "second generation" android tablet.
It still has the Tegra 2 and the specs are identical to the other big names (Acer, Asus and the likes) and the performance is the same!
No, the first "second gen" android tablet will probably be when the Asus transformer 2 is released.
Or maybe ZTE will beat them all with the first Tegra 3 based (quad-core)tablet:
http://www.androidauthority.com/zte-quad-core-tablet-leaks-26228/
I can browse my local Lan network with ease, copy files across the network, bridge any device to anything else (beam a youtube video from my 3g or wifi, via wifi, to my tv, etc)
all feature which I can get for free from the market place.
Not to mention standard USB and SD card support
I'll admit the iPad has a nice interface and in general is a good tablet, but apple's death grip on what the developers are allowed to publish crushes the iPads capabilities... It could do so much more, and that's where the android market shines.
Here is what you are missing. All of these are the same thing:
One tenth of an inch
1/10 inch
0.1 inch
Is that really so hard to believe?
I always hold my 16:10 (why not 8:5?) eeePad Transformer in portrait mode. What's so hard about it? Or am I just weird?